Calm returns with Isle residents

Venerable and vulnerable Galveston, expecting to be devastated a second time, is grateful to have been spared and is slowly recovering

GALVESTON - Paul Daly kept a loaded 12-gauge shotgun on the counter of his Dutch Kettle restaurant Sunday as he offered free refreshments to anyone who walked through the door.

Wary of looters, but hospitable to fellow survivors of Hurricane Rita, he told customers, "We don't have any food, but you can have coffee, soda or orange juice at no charge."

Daly couldn't serve food because his cook, dishwasher and a second waitress are still far from Galveston.

But on Sunday, life on the island began returning to normal.

The slow-moving revival started at dawn, when cars and trucks began trickling across the Interstate 45 causeway that leads from mainland Galveston County to the barrier island.

The pace quickened, and by 1 p.m. traffic had picked up on main drags such as Seawall Boulevard and Broadway.

Most returning business and homeowners found little damage, but city officials said 35 percent of the city still had no electricity. Daly returned to his restaurant on Seawall Boulevard near 37th Street, a family run business for 30 years, about 11 a.m. Saturday and found the front door ajar.

He grabbed his shotgun and entered cautiously, finding a smashed jukebox with about $500 missing. Undeterred, Daly began brewing coffee for fellow residents. But he kept the shotgun nearby.

"Knowing what happened in New Orleans really bothered me," said Daly, referring to looting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "I'm going to protect myself and my friends."

"It's a lot better than what I thought," Zamani said. "I was ready for the worst. We should thank God."

Carnes Brothers Funeral Home on Avenue L and 23rd Street stayed open through the storm, said Rusty Carnes, who owns the funeral home with his brother, Mike. There was a rush of business to get bodies buried, cremated or embalmed before the storm hit, he said.

Then during the evacuation, Rusty Carnes said he retrieved the bodies of two evacuees who had apparently died of heat and stress while caught in traffic jams along the clogged evacuation routes.

But Carnes said business has been slow since the evacuation. "That's because there was nobody here to die," he said.

The largest influx of returning residents occurred shortly after noon, when 40 Galveston Independent School District buses rolled off the causeway and into the parking lot of the Island Community Center.

Evacuees who spent four nights in shelters at Huntsville area schools and churches said getting there — they spent 15 hours on the road — was the worst part of their time away from home.

Lea Ann Reed said the evacuation did more for her than just protect her from Hurricane Rita. Before the storm, Reed said she'd been living on the streets of Galveston with a son, 19, and a daughter, 17.

"Actually, we made a friend and she's going to let us stay with her for a while," said Reed, 39, who was sleeping on lifeguard stands on the city's beachfront before the storm. "Now I can get my daughter back in school."